Adele's Favorite Breakup Songs Will Make You Feel So Many Things

Going through a breakup? Ditch the pint of ice cream and evocative romance flicks, and let Adele help you recover instead. The singer recently revealed her top six breakup tunes to People—effectively creating the breakup playlist of a lifetime. Because seriously, who do you trust more than Adele to take you on a sonic emotional roller coaster? That's what I thought. Now get ready, because you're about to take a journey through heartbreak, recovery, and heartbreak again.

Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me"

The emotional instrumental is enough to get the tears flowing. But add to that Raitt's tragic lyrics about how she can't make her lover's heart "feel something it won't," and those tears will quickly turn into sobs. "Here in the dark, in these final hours / I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power / But you won't, no you won't / 'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't." Whew—talk about cathartic.

Mumford & Sons' "After the Storm"

No breakup playlist is complete without a Mumford & Sons tune. Though I typically prefer to scream and bawl my eyes out to "White Blank Page," Adele opted for the more subtly powerful "After the Storm." The song is incredibly emotional and builds to a near-therapeutic climax. If you don't have chills by the end of it, you're doing it wrong.

Florence + The Machine's "Cosmic Love"

Florence + The Machine is enough to make me cry when I'm in a good mood, so I can only imagine what the band would do to me in a post-breakup situation. "Cosmic Love" is a cool choice on Adele's part, because while it's definitely a love song, it's not an overt breakup tune. It's also more upbeat than her Bonnie Raitt and Mumford & Sons choices, giving the listener a quick break from the sadness.

David Gray's "This Year's Love"

Aaaaand David Gray's "This Year's Love" drops you right back into that emotional sweet spot. A few moments of the singer's raspy vocals, and the sadness comes rushing back—in the best way possible. The melancholy lyrics will remind you of the best moments of your relationship and will have you wishing it never ended, but knowing that, ultimately, it needed to.

Katy Perry's "Not Like the Movies"

Though pop star Katy Perry isn't the first person you'd expect to see on a breakup playlist, "Not Like the Movies" is a surprisingly touching tune off her Teenage Dream album. Unedited airy vocals and honest lyrics lend this song the kind of grounded reality you want during a breakup—and Perry captures the anticlimactic nature of not-so-fairytale romances perfectly.

Etta James' "All I Could Do Was Cry"

Adele ended her playlist the only way she could: with a song from the one and only Etta James. The vintage beat isn't going to wreck you the same way Mumford & Sons' impassioned banjo playing might, but James' powerful vocals and straightforward lyrics tell the story of love lost in an understated way—making it all the more powerful. As the playlist concludes, James sings the lyrics, "All I could do was cry," because really, what else is there to do at that point?

And now—a whole lotta feelings later—you've made it. Hello from the other side. And get ready to dole this out to anyone in need of a little breakup catharsis.